Need some advice/input on lens

I'm pretty new to photography but am really loving it so far. I have a T2i with just the kit lens right now. Although I have been pretty impressed with the kit lens, I think I am ready for some new lens. On the other hand, I don't think I am ready for spending all that money on L lens. I want a wide angle, macro, and one for portraits. I also wanted them to be prime lens. So, right now, I am thinking of getting the Canon 35mm f/2, 85mm f/1.8, and the 100mm f/2.8. What do you guys think? Comment on anything you want about it. What's good/bad, if you own it how has it been working out for you, other lens suggestions, etc. Any input and advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Primes
Sigma 30 1.4
Canon 85 1.8

Walk Around
Canon 15-85 IS

Wide Angle
Tokina 11-16

Telephoto Zoom
Canon 70-200 F/4 IS

These are bang for your buck lenses. Figure out your shooting style and pick and choose. The 35/2 is an old lense and a little long for a 1.6.

well you can see my gear...I need a portrait lens i really want 50mm 1.2 l as my next lens but yeah good lens will cost ya. I would say though..yeah just figure out what you really want to shoot don't cheat yourself sometimes you gotta invest money to make money.

walk around - is my sigma 17-50mm f2.8 OS EX and 24-70 f2.8l (<- gets heavy after a few hours) lol

JLor23 wrote in post #11662841
I'm pretty new to photography but am really loving it so far. I have a T2i with just the kit lens right now. Although I have been pretty impressed with the kit lens, I think I am ready for some new lens. On the other hand, I don't think I am ready for spending all that money on L lens. I want a wide angle, macro, and one for portraits. I also wanted them to be prime lens. So, right now, I am thinking of getting the Canon 35mm f/2, 85mm f/1.8, and the 100mm f/2.8. What do you guys think? Comment on anything you want about it. What's good/bad, if you own it how has it been working out for you, other lens suggestions, etc. Any input and advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

The 35/2 is not a wide angle lens on APS-C. About the only non-L prime that is is the 20/2.8, and it is not as wide as your 18-55, nor is it a stellar performer.

Macro - yes - the 100/2.8 is great, but there are few bad macro lenses. The decision is based on the working distance you need and your budget.

Portraits?
A portrait can be take by any lens. What weakness do you see in the portraits you've taken with your 18-55 IS?

If you shoot a lot indoors under lower light, I would get the Sigma 30mm 1.4, and for a normal walkaround lens, the Tamron 17-50mm NON-VC - the image quality of this lenses is comparable to L lenses. For macro, the 100 2.8 should be good.

Thanks for all the input and advice! It's a lifesaver (and money saver) for a beginner like me. Any more is always appreciated. I don't plan on buying until next week so i have time to take your input into consideration.

@Nic L
I also considered 50mm 1.4 (again, wasn't looking to spend that much just yet for the 50mm 1.2) but I tried my friend's out and I thought the focus was kinda weird, just a little off or something. Am I just making this up?

@xarqi
The only problem I have seen with my 18-55 is that it is not as sharp as the prime lens my friends have that I have borrowed to try out. Also, under lower light, I find that I have to turn up my ISO and this created a lot of noise. Any tips?

100mm, and 85mm are pretty close to each other...do you definitely need the f1.8, or the macro capabilities?...if not you could probably drop one of them

or you could do something like:
sigma 30mm
canon 60mm macro
canon 100mm f2...

at least then you'd have a bit more separation...but i guess it'd come down to if the 60mm would work for your macro purposes

JLor23 wrote in post #11668343
@xarqi
The only problem I have seen with my 18-55 is that it is not as sharp as the prime lens my friends have that I have borrowed to try out. Also, under lower light, I find that I have to turn up my ISO and this created a lot of noise. Any tips?

Few zooms are as sharp as even an "average" prime, and the 18-55 IS isn't too bad. If you are finding it soft, your options are limited and the budget you'll need goes up a lot.

The 100/2.8 you've mentioned is sharp, and could do double duty as macro and a portrait lens, although some may find it a bit long for this. The 60/2.8 may be even sharper, and could be an alternative.

Low light?
There's nothing wrong with cranking up the ISO, within reason. 400, 800, even 1600 or higher should give you workable results. The trick (if it is a trick) is to expose properly, and not try to boost the shadows in post-processing. That's where noise will show.

Otherwise, it's slower shutter speed, where the subject and support allows, faster lenses, where skinny DoF isn't a problem and you have the budget, or adding more light.
Best advice?
Get a flash like the 430 EX II.

@DreDaze
I did feel that the 85mm and the 100mm was kind of close together. The only reason I considered it was because the 85mm had great reviews as a portrait lens and the 100mm had great reviews for a macro. Also, I figured in the 50-60mm range, I can just rely on my 18-55mm kit lens. So in essence I wanted to create a little separation from my kit lens also. But I think I will strongly consider dropping the 85mm for the 60mm, however, I think I would use the 60mm more as a portrait one then as I think the 100mm will be my go to for macro. Will that work?

@xarqi
That makes sense because I didn't start to see a lot of noise until post-processing the pictures. I have also noticed it when I had to zoom in one the photos. I have tried to expose longer to compensate, but sometimes this just doesn't work out in certain situations. I think since you both mentioned the 60mm, I will take a closer look at it and maybe drop the 85mm. Also, I do eventually want a flash but I figured I can work on getting the lens first.

i am in a similar situation as you. i picked up a 50mm 1.8 for $95 to experiment with a prime. i like the focal length and love the big aperture. 50mm on the prime will blow you away compared to your kit lens.

If I wanted to cover everything you mentioned, I'd suggest the 24-70 L and a set of extension tubes for macro.

If you go wider than 24, and you want a prime which will give a consistently better result than a zoom, you will spend quite a bit on it.

(for example, this is a truly high-quality prime : https://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthre​ad.php?t=768623)

the 100mm macro can also be used for portraits as well...

if you're not going to use the 60mm for macro, i'd probably look for a faster 50mm lens instead

Getting back to your initial post....

JLor23 wrote in post #11662841
I want a wide angle, macro, and one for portraits...

For one thing....you listed the 35mm, 85mm, and 100mm. On a crop camera like yours, the 35mm is not very wide. For example, I have a Tokina 35mm macro lens that closely approximates the 50mm on a full-frame camera....and I mostly use it as a portrait lens.

Wide angle primes are a pretty niche market, they usually aren't cheap, and are generally aimed at full-frame cameras. Even the wide angle zooms for 1.6x bodies aren't cheap either! My suggestion is to use your 18-55mm kit lens as a reference and figure out if you need something to go wider OR if there is a particular range in there that works as "wide" for you. Generally on a crop camera like yours, something like Canon's 10-22mm or Tokina's 11-16mm is what you want in the wide/ultra-wide range. Sigma makes 20, 24, and 28mm primes that also may work for you....though 24/28 is not often considered very 'wide' on a crop camera. But 35mm is definitely not wide.

My personal suggestion would be to buy one lens at a time, especially if you are still getting use to your camera. It's tempting to buy a lot of lenses, but the easiest way to figure out what you like is to buy one lens and shoot with it for a couple of months. Buying 3 primes at once without any context is a huge risk and an easy way to end up with 1-2 lenses that aren't quite what you are looking for.

Just wanted to jump in here and say thanks to everyone again. These advice are really helping me decide what I should get. I'll still keep reading until I decide on one if anyone still wants to offer advice. I always welcome someone else's input.